Chinquapin is definitely not for everyone and I believe that is part of what makes it so special. This is a school that challenges its students, holds them accountable, and works to develop young people who are confident, responsible, self-sufficient, and prepared to become leaders. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and experience, but I think it is important to look at the full picture before criticizing a school for things such as not having janitorial staff or experiencing maintenance issues. Chinquapin is a nonprofit school that does not receive the same state funding as public schools, and with that naturally come challenges and limited resources. My son began attending Chinquapin in 2024 under the leadership of Ms. Mily Pérez. I cannot speak to what the school may have been like before then, but I can speak to the experience our family has had from 2024 forward and it has been an incredibly positive one. The students at Chinquapin are academically challenged and taught valuable real-life skills. They are expected to take responsibility for themselves and contribute to their school community. They are not babied, but they are supported. This is far from a military-style campus or an alternative school for children with behavioral problems. Chinquapin is filled with bright, driven students, and there are high expectations for both academics and conduct. Misbehavior is taken seriously, and accountability is part of the culture. It sometimes feels as though educators cannot win. If they do not care enough, they are criticized, and when they care deeply and hold students accountable, it can be viewed as overstepping. Personally, I would rather have educators who genuinely care about my child's education, character, and future. During Ms. Pérez's leadership, she did everything within her power to address concerns, including HVAC and maintenance issues, as quickly as the school's resources allowed. Running a nonprofit school without state funding is not without its difficulties, and I believe that instead of allowing those challenges to define Chinquapin, we as parents and members of the community should help share its story, advocate for it, and help bring in the resources and funding needed to ensure it continues serving students for generations to come. I am extremely grateful for our family's experience with Chinquapin and for the impact the school has had on my son. I hope that under its new leadership, the school continues building on the progress that has been made and becomes even stronger. Chinquapin is a unique place with an important mission, and I truly hope our community continues to support it. read more

I graduated from the Chinquapin School in 2006 (this marks 20 years today). The directors at the time were Bill and Kathy Heinzerling. They were the directors at Chinquapin for about 30 years. The intial idea was to provide quality education for low-income students like myself at the time. Similiarly, to the affluent schools like St. John's School in the Upper Kirby area in Houston. In fact, the founders of the school were Bob and Maxine Moore who intially worked for St. John's at the time and decided to open The Chinquapin school in 1969. The Chinquapin School was a safe haven for me when home life was complete chaos. My English teachers at the time saw a lot of potential in me and pushed me to write and excel in my writing and academics. I am the first woman to graduate high school in my family. I am first woman in my family to graduate college. I am the first teacher in my family. Currently, I teach English I at Yes Prep Public Schools (I have been awarded by the state because of my STAAR scores). I have read some of the recent reviews on here. And clearly based on those reviews some things have changed due to the leadership and the culture in recent years. However, I have enrolled my son here and this will be his second year at The Chinquapin School. He absolutely loves it. The school now has a new director, I believe her name is Chelsea Korth. read more

awesome school, great opportunity i wish bill and Kathy still ran the school. my family has been attending since the 90s. Now it's time for my kids to attend. The fact that the teachers live on site helped during study hall when I attended. You were taught values and commitment. I didn't realize it then but I appreciate this school so much and for what it did to my family and everyone that's an alumni. You truly meet people for life. read more

DO NOT SEND YOUR KID TO THIS SCHOOL!! This school is very cult like in terms of cliques. If you aren't a part of a clique then you are isolated from the rest of the school and it doesn't already help that the school only has around 150 students in total. There was many instances where teachers would cross personal boundaries with students and their families, specifically if a student was showing interest of leaving then staff would take it into their own hands to discouraged the parents by emotional manipulate them to fear the "dangers" of public school. Ironically while also having selling illegal substances to students on campus as young as middle schoolers. Although this school does have a 100% acceptance rate for college, public schools have better benefits. Some public schools offer early college programs where a senior can graduate with an associates along with their diploma. Now who wouldn't want that! These schools also offer certifications for careers like business information management, Microsoft, coding, and welding. With these certifications students can determine what career path they want to choose early and also have experience already. At chinquapin a student is forced to take preselected courses for most of their careers and aren't given many opportunities to explore different career paths due to lack of staffing as well as class options and school funding. Speaking of funding, due to low funding to the school and how old the school, there has been many incidents of infrastructure issues. The location of the campus isn't ideal at all. The school dips down and it's constantly getting flooded needing constant repair. As well as being close proximity to a water tower. Constant natural disaster warnings happening. If you truly think you son/daughter is brilliant and extraordinary then they don't need a private school excel academically. Public schools have better benefits that would help your child have a bright future and succeed. To summarize, DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILD TO THIS SCHOOL!! read more

I put my son in school here. Laura Henry was the headmaster. I was very excited they excepted him. It was an extremely difficult time in his life. Without a doubt, he would have been one of the most brilliant students they ever had. Recently he graduated from high school his junior year, with over a year of college as well. He has gotten a four year full ride to the college of his choice due to his academic achievements. However, he lasted less than a month at Chinquapin. He did not feel welcomed. He is a very accepting person, but I cannot help think part of the reason he left was they put him in a room with five openly gay boys. He even walked in on two of them in bed together one day. WTF? Even for the most accepting and kind heterosexual teenagers like my son, this would have been uncomfortable. That is like putting a daughter in a dorm room with a bunch of young hormone driven hetrosexual boys. It seems like they would have cared enough to do better by him. I can only assume they wanted him to leave, but why put a kid through that? They new he was going through a fragile time. I would not send a child here again for any reason. I am very sad about what happened in Orlando this past weekend, but that doesn't have anything to do with the poor judgement by the administration, which my son was subject to under the roof of The Chinquapin School. read more